Spanish public transport operator EMT Madrid plans to put a total of 120 new electric buses into operation by mid-2027. These buses have now been ordered from manufacturers Daimler Buses, Irizar, and Solaris. With the new e-buses, the share of electric vehicles in the fleet will rise to 25 per cent.
Image: EMT MadridBy Florian Treiss
The largest order was awarded to the Basque company Irizar, which will supply 50 solo buses of its ieBus model for up to €30.75 million (excluding VAT). The model has been on the market since 2014, and in October 2025, Irizar unveiled an ‘Efficient’ version of the ieBus.
The second-largest order was placed with Daimler Buses in Germany, which will produce 40 units of its Mercedes-Benz eCitaro. The eCitaro recently received an upgrade to the new NMC4 battery generation and is expected to achieve a range of up to 500 kilometres. EMT Madrid estimates this order at up to €24.6 million (excluding VAT).
The third order, comprising 30 electric buses, was awarded to Solaris in Poland. The manufacturer will supply 18-metre articulated buses. Solaris won the public tender with its Urbino 18 model for up to €24 million. These vehicles will also be the first battery-electric articulated buses in Madrid’s fleet.
The new vehicles will be gradually integrated into the municipal transport company’s fleet between this year and the first half of 2027. EMT Madrid’s fleet already includes 452 battery-electric buses. Once all 120 new electric buses are deployed, the share of electrically powered buses in the entire fleet will exceed 25%.
Battery and range guarantees
According to EMT Madrid, the manufacturers of the new electric buses must provide a minimum warranty of three years for general components, traction motors and power electronics, as well as ten years for the batteries, chassis, and the vehicle’s interior and exterior structure. Additionally, the solo buses must achieve a minimum range of 400 kilometres, while the articulated buses must reach 320 kilometres.
The new electric buses will be distributed across three depots: the Irizar buses will be assigned to the Sanchinarro operations centre, the Mercedes-Benz buses to the Fuencarral operations centre, and the Solaris articulated buses to the Carabanchel operations centre.
At the same time, EMT Madrid is significantly expanding the charging infrastructure at its Sanchinarro depot. The facility, which has so far been used almost exclusively for compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, previously had only 20 conventional charging points for electric buses. Now, 114 charging points with inverted pantographs—current collectors that descend from the charging infrastructure rather than being mounted on the roofs of the buses (top-down pantographs)—will be installed for €12.58 million.
The power supply will be ensured through both an on-site photovoltaic system and an 8-megawatt grid connection. For this project, EMT Madrid will receive €4.69 million in funding from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). A similar charging infrastructure was already installed at the Carabanchel depot.